Resurrection Cookies

Our children are out of the nest, but I’m still a big kid myself. So I grabbed the other big kid in the house last night, and said, “We’re going to make Resurrection Cookies to celebrate the empty tomb! Here’s what we did.

      We gathered 1 cup of whole pecans, 1 teaspoon of vinegar, 3 egg whites, a pinch of salt, 1 cup of sugar, a zip baggie, tape, and a Bible.

      We preheated the oven to 300°F.

      We dumped the nuts into the baggie and beat them into small pieces with the wooden spoon, remembering that Jesus was beaten after his arrest by the Roman soldiers, according to John 19:1-3.

      We smelled the pungent vinegar before adding 1 teaspoon to a mixing bowl.  Vinegar is what they offered Jesus when he hung on the cross, we recalled as my husband read John 19:28-30. (I would have wanted water.)

      Three egg whites joined the vinegar and symbolized life. Jesus gave us his life for our lives. The Enemy only seeks our destruction, as stated in John 10:10-11. Jesus is all about LIFE.

      Next salt went into the bowl, but not before we tasted its bitterness. Can you imagine the bitter tears of Jesus’ followers upon his death? And how bitter is our own sin! (Luke 23:27)

      Then we added something hopeful—1 cup of sugar. This whole, sad story of the cross is all because of the sweetness of God’s love for us. His desire is for us to know and belong to him. It’s all right there in John 3:16.

      The mixer went on next for 12-15 minutes as we waited for stiff white peaks to form. The glistening, white mixture is a reminder of how we are white as snow when we are cleansed from our sin. Impossible? God says it is in Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

      Finally it was time to fold in the beaten nuts and drop the batter by teaspoons onto wax paper-covered baking sheets. Each mound represented the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid, like it says in Matthew 27:57-60.

      At last the cookie sheets went into the oven. We turned the oven off.

      The tomb was sealed, according to Matthew 27:65-66. We used our tape.

      It was a sad thing to leave cookies in the oven overnight. When do you ever do that? The despair of the disciples who had followed and hoped in Jesus for years is impossible to imagine! (John 16:20,22)
      This morning we opened the oven. The cookies? The surface was cracked. The inside?
Hollow.Empty .Empty! EMPTY! Just like the grave of Jesus Christ! It’s empty!

He is risen. He is risen, indeed! And because he lives, I will live forever, and so will anyone who places his or her trust in him! Glorious, joyous Resurrection Day to all who call him Lord!